Fractured Frequency
by sarilleny
Summary: They have know each other as enemies, rivals, and eventually companions, but over time even the best of friends can forget that which brought them together. When a strange situation arises that may threaten Angel Island and its Guardian, can Sonic convince the echidna to trust in a friendship that was once strong, or will Knuckles insist on dealing with the situation alone.
1. Haze

Disclaimer:

I do not own Sonic, Knuckles, or any other characters who appear in this story. They belong to Sega.

Description:

They have know each other as enemies, rivals, and eventually companions, but over time even the best of friends can forget that which brought them together. When a strange situation arises that may threaten Angel Island and its Guardian, can Sonic convince the echidna to trust in a friendship that was once strong, or will Knuckles insist on dealing with the situation alone.

Authors Note:

So I think I am going to forego side-notes and such for the prologue, and instead let you enjoy the mystery. Chapter One will be more forthcoming. ;)

* * *

**Fractured Frequency | **Prologue - Haze

* * *

The first thing that registered through the haze, which had nestled itself upon his thoughts, was a cold damp feeling beneath his cheek. It was unsettling. Very quickly, the feeling spread. A chill ran across his body, awakening it to a dank reality. His first coherent thought, _'Where am I?' _struggled to push aside the veil. Realizing his eyes were still closed, he attempted to breech the darkness, but found it seemed to expand onwards despite his efforts.

Only occasionally did tiny glimmers of light wink at him through the abyss. _'Fireflies?' _ His lips turned in a slight grin and chuckled at the strangeness of the image._ 'Wait…no, can't be right…must be…droplets.' _ Rain must be catching the moonlight he reasoned. It seemed clarity, though evasive, _was_ returning to him.

Mud met his fingers, as they wriggled on the moist ground. Testing his strength, he planted a hand firmly on either side of his shoulders and pushed back, trying to move into a kneeling position.

Suddenly, as he pulled his legs towards himself, the world flashed alight, bursting with brightness. As it engulfed his vision, a sharp pain ripped through his right leg. For many moments, he could only clench his fists in the slush of dirt beneath him and wait for it to ebb away.

When the pain subsided he found he was gasping for breath. Nearly suffocating between haphazard gulps of air and the streams of rain water which ran down his face, his consciousness teetered on the brink once more. _'Breathe…breathe…breathe…' _His thoughts raced. As the minutes passed, shallow breaths slowly gave way to a more steady pace.

He sat kneeling, hunched over, forehead resting on the backs of his hands. When he felt an inkling of strength return, he shifted, and reached back with a shaky arm, to feel for his ankle. It was extremely swollen. Drenched and muddy a mess as he was, he couldn't be sure if it was bleeding, but at the very least he was relieved not to find bone protruding or at an awkward angle. Mentally he checked the rest of his body for similar afflictions, but found only minor injury.

Taking a calming breath, he attempted to gauge the situation, checking his surroundings. He shifted, woking himself into a sitting position, careful not to jostle his right ankle again. _'Ok, you can do this…just figure out where you…' _ The thought cut off unfinished, as his eyes reached the space directly before him.

It was nearly invisible in the dark. If not for the shimmer of moonlight, he'd have missed the pools of rain water spilling wildly into the ravine. Feeling his heart rate quicken, he had to actively refrain from backing away hurriedly. As unease gripped him, he tried to recall how he'd arrived at this location. _'…must have fallen…'_ A glance behind and above confirmed his anxiety. He was on a narrow ledge, about fifteen feet below the cliff's edge.

Minutes passed as he sat there in the rain weighing his options. He was quite familiar with the ravine, having often scaled it in both directions, but in the dark, he couldn't quite pin-point his absolute location. '_Shouldn't stay here…' _Was this particular ledge sturdy? Would it continue to hold his weight? Might the rain destabilize it? On the other hand, the alternative would be to scale the cliff face in the dark. That would be difficult right now, _'though not impossible,'_ as the stone would be slick, and the earth waterlogged.

_'But my ankle…'_

Though he'd been doing a decent job of pushing the ache aside until then, that thought brought it flooding back. As the pain swelled, he struggled to remain grounded. _'Ok, focus… breath, breathe…'_ But when the moment subsided, he found that even stronger than the pain in his limb, was a dreadful, growing sense of unease. Why did he have no recollection of what happened? It triggered up a barrage of red flags in his mind. No, he would have to scale the wall, he thought.

With great care, he slowly repositioned himself, weight balanced between both arms and one leg, then rose, supporting himself with a tight grasp on the cliff face. An unexpected flutter of nerves, halted further progress. His muscles felt fatigued and sore, and his heart rate was beating irregularly hard for so little physical exertion. Inklings of doubt, told him he hadn't the strength to continue, but with a sigh, he leaned forward into the wall of stone, and let it fall away, until all that remained were shallow breaths and the pitter patter of rain.

Curling one tight fist, he rammed it into the cliff face above his head and pulled. Quickly the other followed suit, and his feet rose away from the ledge. In rapid succession this continued, spikes digging into rock, muscles straining to push through the burn, while using his uninjured leg to stabilize on the wall. Despite rain and risk, he flew up the obstacle with a sort of clairvoyance, driven by experience and an intrinsic familiarity. His mind was null of thought. The physical consumed him. The grip of fingers, strain of muscle, feel of cold rock as his spikes drove into it. And then, something else. Something soft. _'Grass,' _like a whisper upon his thoughts, it broke through his concentration. With a final desperate heave, he muscled his over the precipice.

As adrenaline fled his system and, his full range of senses returned, his thoughts turned inward. Clearing his mind, he let the pain, and exhaustion fall away. Reaching out on a level beyond the physical he searched for a familiar energy. It was an incredible relief when he was able to grasp it. It curled around his being, soothing away his strife. Utterly spent, but sure of the island's immediate safety, the echidna collapsed and slipped away as the haze settled upon him once more.

* * *

Miles away, just beyond the perimeter of the majestic Floating Island, a lone entity hovered in the sky. Slowly it began to descend, its current objective complete.

* * *

TBC

* * *

Haze: vagueness of mind or mental perception


	2. Tension

Disclaimer:

I do not own Sonic, Knuckles, or any other characters who appear in this story. They belong to Sega.

Description:

They have know each other as enemies, rivals, and eventually companions, but over time even the best of friends can forget that which brought them together. When a strange situation arises that may threaten Angel Island and its Guardian, can Sonic convince the echidna to trust in a friendship that was once strong, or will Knuckles insist on dealing with the situation alone.

Authors Note:

Ok, so I promised to be more forthcoming with this chapter. Where to start? We'll I'm a huge Knuckles fan. Borderline obsessive maybe. (I like Sonic too...) So I think I have a very particular view of his character portrayal. I strongly dislike how he was portrayed in SonicX. The idea that he is just stupid and only worthy of comic relief really bothers me. Stubborn, yes. At times Naive, yes. But stupid? Absolutely not. I won't go into all the specifics of what I seen in him. I hope the story will make that clear as it progresses. I suppose that also leads into the question of universe. Generally I lean toward the early Sega game universe, however I've taken some liberties with this story and borrowed various things from other universes as necessary. So overall it would have to be classified as AU. - Thats it for now. A bit more at the bottom!

* * *

**Fractured Frequency | **Chapter 1 - Tension

* * *

In the shadow of the Master Emerald Shrine, a lone figure stood before the steps of a small house; his destination. His journey had not been a long one; however, it had been some time since he had last ventured to this place. It seemed in his absence, the island had remained frozen. Unchanged as ever he'd seen it.

He stepped up to the door before him and knocked.

The entrance remained still for a long while as he waited. When his patience wained, he grasped the knob, cracked the door open just a bit to peek inside.

"Hello? Anyone home?"

The doorway opened to a small kitchen. It was dim, lit only by sunlight streaming through the windows.

"Knuckles?" The intruder tried calling weakly; though, he was rather certain of the owner's absence now. Pushing formality aside, he opened the door further and let himself in. Moving towards the kitchen table, he carefully set down a small white package that he had been carrying, then veered towards the pantry. When a few moments scanning its contents produced nothing of interest, he progressed further into the house.

At the other end of the kitchen an entrance led into the living room. Walking in he noticed that the lights were off in this room as well. Three doors, one on per wall defined the extent of the building's reach. The door opposite him was and exit. In the one to his left he knew he was unwelcome. Instead he made his way to the right, into a second bedroom, promptly disposed of his backpack on the floor, and flopped onto the bed with a sigh.

"Ugh, shoulda known he wouldn't be here." Sonic said with a sigh.

Finding the Master Emerald unaccompanied in the first place had been a bit of a surprise. Sometimes it seemed the guardian remained a permanent fixture upon the shrine. Of course he knew that not to be true, and such was obviously the case right now.

"So, if I were Guardian Knuckles where would I be?" he asked himself cheekily.

Weighing his options, he figured he could either wait here for the other to return, and suffer extreme boredom, or continue his search around the island. A simple choice really.

With that thought in mind, he stood, grabbed his bag again and made his way back outdoors.

* * *

After a long run covering the areas he was most familiar with, he settled into a walking pace along an unfamiliar forest path. As he walked along, he was struck with how isolated a place Angel Island could be. It was strange how empty is was. He was used to the rowdy atmosphere of the Mobotropolis, a great contrast to this environment. Even during his furthest travels, there always seemed to be few people scattered about the countryside. He wondered why he hadn't noticed it before, and pondered the thought for a while. Of course, it had been a long time since he had trekked this much of the floating sanctuary alone. Not since before his first tumultuous meeting with Knuckles had he explored it unguided; and even then, he recalled, Tails had been with him.

The hedgehog continued along the path for few minutes longer, before a rustling sound from behind startled him. He turned with lightning speed and was surprised to find the very Guardian he sought standing behind him.

"Geez Knuckles! How do you do that?"

In response the guardian only raised an eyebrow, expression remaining stoic, so Sonic continued. "How do you how do you always just, _know_ when someone is here?

"It's my business to know."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Ever the mysterious guardian act." He replied, pulling air quotes.

Ignoring the comment, Knuckles changed the subject abruptly. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, obviously I'm here to see you Knux."

"Yes, obviously Sonic, so what do you want?" Knuckles replied with exasperation.

"What is that supposed to mean? What's with the attitude?" asked Sonic, suddenly defensive.

"It means, you never come all the way up here, unless you need something so hurry up and ask, cause I'm busy."

_'Busy?'_ Sonic wondered for a moment before replying. "What? that's not true at all! We used to hang out up here all the..." But when he realized what he was saying, he stopped short, reconsidering his answer. "Well, you know how things have been. Neither of us exactly had a lot of spare time during that last debacle. I didn't see you complaining then. Weren't you the one who said you wanted to know right away if a new lead came up?"

"Pssh, Wouldn't have been a debacle if you could ever just stick to a plan," huffed the echidna.

Sonic didn't reply right away. A slow sort of dawning realization washed over him. "Oh, you've gotta me kidding me Knuckles," Sonic drolled exasperatedly raising a hand to his forehead. "Seriously? That's what this is about? You're still mad at me for that last mission?

When Knuckles didn't respond right away, Sonic continued.

"It was three...almost four months ago! Ugh, you know what I take it back. I remember now, you were complaining then, about a situation that was barley salvageable at best!"

"You don't know that!"

"Yes I do! If I hadn't taken that chance, we would have made it out with nothing at all!"

"Yeah, convenient that you only managed to get the info that is relevant to you."

"Err! Knuckles I already apologized for that! What do you want from me?"

Knuckles stared him straight down and replied, "I'd like you to tell me exactly what you need from me so desperately that you had to come all the way here to my island to bother me for it."

"I don't want anything from you Knuckles. That's not why I'm..." Sonic began, but he fell silent as something unexpected caught his eye, and he recalled exactly what had brought him there.

"Hey, what happened to your ankle? He asked, his previous chain of thought forgotten. He'd noticed the bandage that tightly wrapped the echidna's foot. Looking up to meet the other's eyes, he received no reply, but in doing so began to notice the faded silhouette of bruises that were scattered across Knuckles' body. "Geez Knuckles, you look horrible. What happened?" he asked suddenly concerned.

The echidna stared at him silently for a moment longer before replying, "It's nothing."

"Nothing? What do you mean nothing? Don't tell me you ended up like that from staring at the Master Emerald all day. Seriously. What's going on? Did someone try to take it. Did you get attacked?

"No Sonic, I didn't get attacked okay, just drop it."

"OK, so what happened then?"

"I said it's nothing! What are you doing here anyway?," Knuckles asked exasperatedly, bypassing the question.

"You call that nothing." Sonic asked, pointing at his ankle.

"Look, it's just a bruise. I…tripped. Ok?" replied Knuckles, eager to change the subject.

"You tripped?" said Sonic giving him an incredulous look in reply.

"Grr, can you please just drop it Sonic? I don't want to talk about it."

"No Knuckles, why won't you just tell me the truth?"

"Why don't you just mind your own business?"

"Because you're lying."

Knuckles sighed, letting his aggressive stance waver for the first time since approaching Sonic. He had absolutely no desire to discuss this with Sonic, but was sure the incessant hedgehog wouldn't leave, let alone stop pestering him until he got an answer.

"..." He sighed again, and replied through clenched teeth, "Isortaslipeddownaravine…"

"Come again?" Asked Sonic confused. "You what?"

"I said…I… slipped…down…a ravine…OK?"

"WHAT! Sonic exclaimed, unnecessarily loud. "Are you alright? When did this happen?"

"I said I'm fine Sonic. Please just drop it. It was like three weeks ago, ok? I'm fine."

Again Sonic remained quiet a moment before answering. Knuckles noticed a slight change in his expression during this time. "...Three weeks ago? Knuckles, I called at-least twice in that amount of time. So what? You just FORGOT to mention it? Are you crazy? Why didn't you tell me? Or why didn't you tell Tails? I know he called you too!"

"I said, I'm perfectly FINE on my o..." Knuckles started, but was interrupted.

"Yeah, and what about the Master Emerald? Doesn't THAT make it a little hard to defend?" countered Sonic pointing at his friend's bandaged ankle.

Knuckles glared at him. "Watch what you say."

Sonic shot back a glare. "Why should I when you're being stupid!"

When Knuckles replied again his voice was even, and sounded dangerous. "…Maybe you should leave Sonic... before I decide you're trespassing."

He turned away from Sonic as though to leave.

"DAMIT, Knuckles… I didn't come here to argue with you!," yelled Sonic, his tone reaching anger for the first time.

"Yeah, well you ca…" Knuckles began, turning back around, but he was cut off by Sonic.

"Just SHUT UP for a second and listen to me! Why do you always do this Knuckles? I don't get it. What if something had really happened, like if Eggman had come up here or someone else! Look…" Sonic paused, trying to regain some composure. He continued a bit calmer. "Look, I get why you're getting angry, but I'm not questioning your ability. Why do you take the risk? You say your duty is to this island, but what about to yourself?...I can't believe I called you twice, and you didn't say anything about this! Don't you trust me? I mean, ok, we both know I'm not the best-suited person to do your job, but I'd come if you needed help!" He took a moment to consider his next words before continuing. "You know… you've saved my tail more times than I'd really like to admit, and through everything we've been through, I always know I can count on you to have my back. What I don't understand is why you don't let me, or anyone for that matter, do the same!"

Sonic paused, and looked the echidna straight in the eyes. He wanted to make sure he got through to his stubborn friend.

"Knuckles…just because you're the guardian of this island doesn't mean you have to do _everything_ on your own… It's ok to ask for help. It's ok to want it... You don't have to be so... _tough_ all the time."

For a moment they just stood still, intensely staring at each other. Sonic watched Knuckles closely, trying to read the subtle emotions that played over his face. The others stance falsely attempted to covey indifference, but Sonic could see through the façade. He wondered briefly if he had pushed the echidna too far, and sighed.

"Look, I'm sorry if I angered you, but you're my _best friend _Knuckles. We… you, me, the rest of our friends, we all of us go such long times without contact. I mean it has been almost four months since I've seen you, and yeah we spoke on the com-link, but that was like two minutes, and you didn't tell me what was going on anyway. It just worries me when you do this. When you shut yourself out. I don't doubt you Knuckles, but I don't want to find out too late that you took on something alone that you actually couldn't handle."

Breaking their deadlocked stare, he looked away, knowing that Knuckles wouldn't willingly back down first. He continued to speak. "Anyway, If you want me out of your way…I'll go." He turned back in the direction of the path he'd wandered onto, and started to walk away, but remembering something he doubled back. "Oh, um… I… left a package for you back at your place…it's…well, just look for it when you get there, 'kay? It's on the kitchen table… Be seeing ya' then." Sonic reluctantly began his trek away.

It wasn't until he'd walked a good ten yards away that Knuckles finally spoke.

"Wait." It came as an uncharacteristically quiet response from the echidna, and was followed by an awkward silence. Knuckles quickly looked down at his feet frowning, when Sonic turned to face him. It seemed the echidna found himself momentarily speechless.

"Knuckles?," asked Sonic cautiously after moving a bit closer.

The echidna looked up looked up and saw that Sonic was still waiting. "…uh, look Sonic... you don't have to go… it… I just…I…"

Sonic knew he meant to make amends. That was all they needed for the moment.

"Red, no worries. Look, why don't we head back to your place. Is it cool if I stay the night?"

Knuckles looked up and gave him just the slightest hint of a smile, "Sure Blue. That's fine."

* * *

The walk to Knuckles' house was silent, but Sonic could tell the tension between them had dissipated for the moment at least. He observed Knuckles who walked a few paces ahead. His friend looked tired. Uncharacteristically so. The guardian he knew was proud, and stubborn, and didn't let him get away with winning an argument so easily. Something was definitely up. Sonic couldn't tell just yet what the echidna was trying to hide, but he intended to find out.

* * *

Author's Note Two -

So how was it? Bit of a change from the prologue, no? I feel that you readers may be a bit confused after reading this. There was a lot of unexplained info flying around in this chapter, but things will get clearer down the line. I promise!

Some general info about this story... I've been working on it forever! Like two years now. My problem is that I don't tend to write in a linear fashion, so I have parts up to CH 10 written, but there are some gapping holes in-between. That is why I've started posting it. It forces me to fill the holes instead of editing and reediting the sections that are done! Because of that, some chapters will come out faster that others. The argument in this chapter was actually the first scene of this story to come into existence. It has been basically complete this whole time, but the opening of the chapter was a nightmare! I rewrote it about 8 times to get it to a place where I liked. So glad it's done and posted! Anyway that is why it took so long from prologue to ch 1. Ch 2 is mostly complete. Just a few adjustments really. I'll try to be quicker this time!

Thank you to my two wonderful Betas!

The first is my husband who has to constantly put up me rambling about this story. (He's only half as interested it it as I am LOL, but he still takes time to reads it and give me advice when I need it. )!

The other is Awdures! Thank you so much for your wonderful advice and commentary! I feel so much better posting this, knowing another Knuckles fan has read my work! ;)

If you haven't seen them yet, be sure to check out Awdures' fantastic stories. I recommend "Sojurn." It's one of my favorites!

Also thank you to my friend lpstribling for some lovely comments and advice!

And finally thank you readers, and especially reviewers! Spidesmi, speedy2009, Ellen17, thank you for your comments! Very motivational! (and Speedy- Im a big fan of " Diamond's Mystery" :)

Thanks!

- Sarilleny

* * *

Tension: a state of latent hostility or opposition between individuals or groups


	3. Façade

Disclaimer:

I do not own Sonic, Knuckles, or any other characters who appear in this story. They belong to Sega.

Description:

They have know each other as enemies, rivals, and eventually companions, but over time even the best of friends can forget that which brought them together. When a strange situation arises that may threaten Angel Island and its Guardian, can Sonic convince the echidna to trust in a friendship that was once strong, or will Knuckles insist on dealing with the situation alone.

Authors Note:

You ready? This one is a bit of a roller coaster.

Style:

As things get a bit more complex with two points of view, here is a guide to clarify on what different styles denote.

" " / "quotation marks" - denote conversion

' ' / '_italics within apostrophes' -_ denote thoughts

_single_ or _small groups_ of words in _italics_ - denote emphasis

_Whole sentences or paragraphs in italics -_ denote past occurrences

Horizontal line – denotes a change in scene or significant change in point of view.

* * *

**Fractured Frequency | **Chapter 2 - Façade

* * *

It was nearing dusk when the pair, walking in tandem, arrived back at the island cottage.

Inside, Sonic busied himself by taking a seat at the lacewood kitchen table, and rummaging through his backpack. Meanwhile Knuckles made his way to the sink where he carefully removed his gloves, then proceeded to wash his hands. Looking over his shoulder he turned to Sonic.

"You hungry?" he asked

"Hmm," Sonic replied distractedly, while still rummaging. "Found it!" He exclaimed as he pulled out a plastic bag full of snacks. "Oh, what did you say Knux?"

"Are you hungry?" Knuckles said again, while pulling his gloves back on. "I could make something..."

Sonic smirked at him sheepishly, "Nah, brought my own food."

It was no secret that they didn't share tastes in cuisine. While Sonic tore into a bag of chili cheese chips, Knuckles propped himself up, taking a seat on the counter. He grabbed a ripe mango out of a bowl fruit placed next to him on the counter.

"So, what's going on? You have new info on Eggman or something?" Knuckles asked. He gave the mango a quick rubdown on the fur of his arm, and then took a big bite, redirecting his attention to Sonic.

"Na, he's still playing dead. Tails said he hasn't picked up any readings in Robotropolis since you and I were there last. I think the kid is still holding out hope that Eggman is actually gone, but I don't buy it. I mean you saw the base. It's destroyed. I don't think he can live with that. No, he's off scheming some new master plan or building some new ridiculous device. That's my bet."

"Yeah, but what else is new? The guy has always been a crazy sack of bolts." The echidna replied.

"Don't you and I know it," said Sonic, exuding something between exasperation and laughter.

Leaning back in his chair to muse for a moment, and with a mouth full of chips, Sonic thought back to their last foray in Robotropolis. He was relieved that their second mentioning of the matter this evening had proceeded more smoothly. Consequently, when Knuckles spoke again, it caught him off guard.

"So, is this about the emerald transfer?" Knuckles asked, curious. In their tumultuous meeting, Sonic had never clarified his reason for coming.

"What? Oh...um you could say that I guess," Sonic evaded. "It's no big deal. I'll tell you about it later." He was not quite ready to divulge his motive; especially since realizing that his prior expectations about the situation he was entering had been plainly wrong. He stifled a sigh, pushing that line of thought away, to be examined later.

Meanwhile Knuckles frowned at the dismissive answer, aware that the subject was being avoided. He didn't push the issue though. Honestly, he felt too tired to have a discussion about whatever it was anyway. Better to attempt sleep while it might still be obtainable, he reasoned. He'd suffered through too many sleepless nights this week already.

He took one last bite, finishing off the mango, then hopped down from the counter, and tossed the core into a wastebasket to his right.

"Hey Sonic," he called, startling the hedgehog out of some tangent train of thought. Once he gained the hedgehogs attention, he continued. "I think I'm just gonna turn in."

With a yawn he added, "early morning tomorrow, you know? I don't mind if you stay up or whatever..."

"What? Aww, but I just got here Knux!" Sonic interrupted, looking dejected. "You can't leave me hanging now." As he spoke, Sonic noticed the echidna's better mood seemed to be waning; he only received an annoyed glare in reply. "OK, OK, fine," he conceded. "Go to bed, but not until you open this." Sonic picked up the small white box that he'd placed on the table earlier, and set it on the opposite end of the table, closest to Knuckles.

Knuckles eyed the box suspiciously. "What is it?"

"I'm not going to tell you! Just open it!"

As Sonic waited patiently, he mused at how eagerly the echidna desired to avoid this suggestion.

Knuckles stalled a bit longer. Why was Sonic so insistent on divulging its contents? When he could think of no excuse to avoid it, he stepped forward. Placing a hand on each side, his gloves met a cardboard surface. With a small amount of pressure, he pulled upwards allowing the top half of the carton to slide up. As the lid freed itself from the base, Knuckles peeked inside, wary of what scheme Sonic was leading him into.

To his surprise, it was nothing he could have anticipated. The box held a cake.

The fine torte was decadently decorated with a white cream that laced its form in lattice fashion. Atop it was embellished with raspberries, and sprinkled with white chocolate shavings.

Knuckles' eyebrow rose as a question grew among his immediate thoughts. He looked up at Sonic who now bore a ridiculous looking grin. "You got me a cake?"

The other nodded excitedly. "Yeah! It's for your birthday, you know. I mean, I know it's not today. It's a little late, but is still counts right?"

"Oh," was all Knuckles managed in response at first. His gaze shifted to the cake, then back to Sonic. "Um, thanks Sonic," He offered, feeling incredibly awkward. "This is uh... I've never had one before..."

"Wait, What? What do you mean you've _never_ eaten cake before! Seriously?" Sonic screeched. "You're kidding, right? I mean I'm pretty sure I saw you eat some at Tails' birthday party..."

"_No, Blue_." Knuckles interrupted Sonic's rambling. "That's not what I meant. Of course I've had cake. I meant I've never…" His gaze turned downcast before continuing. "...never had a birthday cake before."

"Oh…" replied Sonic suddenly, realizing the obvious reason. Growing up alone and all. "Right, well… hey, it's never to late to start," he offered with a smile. "You want to have a piece now?"

Despite desiring nothing more than to crawl into bed at the moment, Knuckles replied with a positive nod. He wasn't sure if it was guilt, or gratitude on his conscience that forced the decision. "Sure," he added, hoping to hide a weary sigh under his words. "I'll grab some plates, hold on."

Sonic seemed to remain oblivious to this, overly pleased with his surprise at the moment.

After retrieving an assortment of mismatched dishes and silverware, Knuckles handed Sonic a large knife. Sonic cut two large slices, and then the pair moved to the seating area in the living room.

Taking a seat in one of the wicker armchairs, Knuckles asked, "What flavor is it?"

"It's a vanilla shortcake, with raspberry cream filling. It's gonna be _sooo_ tasty, Knuckles. I'm sure you'll love it!" Sonic replied as he plopped himself down on the adjacent green sofa.

Knuckles couldn't help but chuckle inwardly at Sonic's enthusiasm. He sounded like a five year old. "I take it you've tried it before?"

"Well no... It's from this new bakery that just opened up in Station Square. Everything they make looks so delicious, and this was the best looking one. I just couldn't resist!"

"I see," said Knuckles. Taking a large bite, he was delighted by how delicious the morsel tasted. "This is _really_ good," he praised, mouth still full.

"Mmm, I know!" Sonic enthused.

The room settled partial into silence as they both focused on enjoying the treat. It wasn't until they finished that one of them spoke again.

"By the way, it's not late," Knuckles stated matter-of-factly. He'd been too surprised to mention it earlier, but remembering again now, he felt he should enlighten Sonic.

"What? What are you talking about?" asked Sonic.

"The cake," Knuckles replied, "it's not late. My birthday is _next_ week."

Sonic stared at him, looking awfully perplexed. "… I knew that," he said with false confidence.

Knuckles gave him an incredulous look in reply. "Really, then what day is it?" he asked.

Sonic stared at him dumbfounded. '_Next week?'_ he thought trying desperately to remember what today's date was. "I thought… uh… I mean… isn't it on the twenty-second?"

"Um, you don't really keep track of dates do you?" Knuckles remarked in a sardonic tone.

"What, like you do?"

Yeah, I do. Today is the _twenty-fifth_."

"Well…" Sonic retorted, "at least I got the month right!"

The echidna scoffed at him. "My birthday is on the second."

"Of next month?" Sonic asked, voice sounding small, and ears laying back in embarrassment.

Knuckles nodded.

"…Oh," Sonic replied, a blush now brushing his cheeks as well. "Um, sorry about that..."

"Nah, don't worry about it. I'll make a point of forgetting yours too."

If he hadn't been facing Knuckles at the time, Sonic might have missed the humor in that statement. The smirk on the echidna's face rather than his tone gave it away though. Sonic smirked back at him. "Well, just know that I expect to receive a gift by August at the latest!" he declared in response.

"August hmm? Well if you can wait that long, I suppose I'll come up with something," the echidna said.

"Ha! So you do know when my birthday is!"

"Don't flatter yourself." Knuckles shot back, sounding rather nonchalant. "Just so happens it falls on an Echidnan holiday. Luck coincidence for you I suppose..."

"What? Wait, why haven't you ever told me about this before? There's a holiday on my birthday! What for?" asked a bemused Sonic.

"It marks the end of the Celebration of Rain."

Sonic considered this, and responded after a moment's thought, "…Bullshit."

"No really. It was a big deal," Knuckles teased with a flat sort of enthusiasm.

"Whatever. Your sarcasm doesn't impress me. Besides who would want to celebrate stupid rain anyway."

"Still the animosity towards all things wet I see..." said Knuckles with exasperation. "We really need to teach you how to swim..."

"Yeah right. Who needs to swim when you're fast enough to run on water!" Sonic replied confidently.

Knuckles just rolled his eyes. "Suit yourself..."

Sonic mimicked the gesture in return. "Oh, that reminds me though, I saw Rouge a while back. She said something about trying to do a treasure hunt with you."

"Oh, um yeah, we went a couple months ago." Knuckles replied off handedly, as though trying not to bring more attention to the subject.

Sonic's eyebrow rose at that. It was a bit of a relief to know Knuckles hadn't completely shut himself out of their circle of friends. He was about it tease the guardian about spending time with that certain bat, when Knuckles continued.

"Not really my kind of trip though. You know Rouge. It's all about the jewels with her. She did tell me this _great_ story about you and your date with Amy though." He added slyly.

"WHAT! That's not fair." Sonic exclaimed. "Rouge swore she wouldn't tell!"

"And you believed her?"

"Psh…well, yeah. I suppose that was a mistake. Anyway, I don't know what she told you, but I didn't really have a choice in the matter. Amy basically kidnapped me."

"Right."

"I'm serious! She threatened my life if I tried to leave before the date was over."

"Priceless," snickered Knuckles "The great Sonic the Hedgehog cowering at the hands of Amy. Man, that girl is some kind of crazy."

"Yeah, you're telling me," scoffed Sonic."

"Still," Knuckles smirked, "she gets points, cause it's hilarious!"

"Yeah, a real riot." Sonic deadpanned. "Almost as good as when she tried to stage a scene under the mistletoe. And by that, I mean not funny at all."

Knuckles frowned in confusion. "When was that?"

"Oh! I forgot you weren't at our holiday party this year. _Long_ story. I'd rather not recall. Anyway, everyone missed you ya know. I even still have a few presents for you back home. One from Cream, another from Amy and one from Tails and I. Sorry I should have brought them. I totally forgot."

Knuckles brushed off the comment with a shrug, and it caused Sonic to pause in question. He was tempted to ask Knuckles why he hadn't shown, but decided against it, feeling it might come out sounding confrontational. Instead he continued, choosing to metaphorically waltz around the subject.

"The Chaotix asked about you a lot that night too. Especially Mighty and Espio. Haven't yo... they been keeping in touch with you?"

Knuckles who was now busying himself with a lose string on a pillow at his side, seemed reluctant to answer. "Oh, uh, yeah. They have..."

Sonic didn't miss how Knuckles looked away awkwardly as he answered. Nor quick change in subject that followed.

"So what's going on in Station Square? Did Tails ever figure out why sections of power grid were shutting down?" the echidna asked.

It took Sonic a moment to reply as he took note of the segue. "Um... he told you about that? I didn't realize."

"He mentioned it off hand."

"Right. Well I think he and the team he's helping have gotten it partially stabilized. Last time I asked he went rambling on about how there was a lot more he needed to do. You know how he is. When he starts talking mechanics, I loose track of the conversation."

"Yeah I hear ya," replied Knuckles

"Not much beyond that. The weather sucks during this time of year, so I haven't been getting many runs in. Every time I try to sit down to watch some TV, the power goes out again, and well, Tails is no fun when he's working. All around, it has been pretty boring."

"I see. You're bored so you decided to come torment me? That's great," Knuckles scoffed.

"Hey! I brought you cake! Besides, apparently somebody needs to be checking up on yo…" Sonic paused realizing his faux pas mid sentence. Unfortunately it was a moment to late. Knuckles' causal expression had faded into one of disdain. "…Red. I didn't mean…"

"Save it," Knuckles replied curtly, looking away.

But his decisiveness set Sonic off. "Well, it's not like it's not the truth! There's something you're not telling me Knux. I can tell."

Violet eyes narrowed in back on the hedgehog, and then Knuckles suddenly stood, abandoning the wicker chair.

"Look Sonic, I don't want to do this right now."

"Knuckles..."

"I'm going to bed," replied Knuckles in a tone that implied it was the end of the conversation. "You can stay in the guest room." He then walked to other end of the living room, and disappeared behind his door.

* * *

Still seated at the couch, Sonic let out a long sigh. "Real nice Sonic. You _really_ handled _that_ well," he muttered to himself.

While he had never been someone known to hold back his words, that was a conversation he hadn't intended on revisiting until tomorrow at least. It just sort of slipped out. Still, Knuckles' reaction let him know there was definitely something else going on.

Slouching on the armrest, he let his forehead rest in his palm. A frustrated breath followed. Guilt was scratching at his senses. It had been there ever since he'd noticed Knuckles' injury earlier.

To say he'd made a mistake might be an understatement at this point. '_If it wasn't for Tails,' _he thought. It was his adopted younger brother who had convinced him (or rather forced him really,) to take a trip up to Angel Island. The young fox noticed that something was off about Knuckles' demeanor when they'd spoken a week ago, while coordinating the transfer of two Chaos Emeralds to the island for secure holding. When Tails came to speak to him about it, Sonic was ashamed now to admit that he'd completely brushed it off. As he recalled the conversation, Sonic wondered what had been influencing his own demeanor.

* * *

"_Sonic?"_

"_Hey lil' bro, what's up?"_

"_Well, you spoke with Knuckles a few day's ago right?"_

"_Uh, well I think it has been a little over a week now, but yeah. Why?"_

"_Well, it's just...I think maybe something is wrong. When I talked to him yesterday, he seemed, I don't know... Like something was bothering him. I was wondering if you noticed that too."_

"_Um, not really Tails. I noticed he was kinda being a jerk when I talked to him, but that's nothing new. He's got attitude about everything. I wouldn't worry about it."_

_Sonic remembered how the two tailed fox looked at him with that concerned expression._

"_I think maybe you should go visit him Sonic."_

_He had been about to give a list of reasons why he thought that was a bad idea, but didn't get a chance to respond._

"_And before you say no; it's going to rain here all weekend; Angel Island almost always has great weather; you've been complaining about being bored for days; you're making it really hard for me to get any work done on this power grid issue; and it's almost February. I know you've wanted to get something from that new bakery that just opened. Here's your chance"_

_Clearly the kid had given this some thought before approaching him. Sonic found himself hard pressed for an excuse after that reasoning._

"_Oh alright! I'll go, but if he shuts the door in my face you're picking me up in the Turbo lil' bro."_

* * *

Now, sitting alone in the living room, Sonic got the sense that he was the real jerk in this situation. He'd always prided himself on being loyal and protective of his friends. When had he become so callous? Had things really changed between them so much?

'_Yes,' _he thought to himself.

There was a moment, earlier in the forest, when he first saw the bandage wrapped around the guardian's ankle. It stole his attention away from their petty quarrel, and instead, coupled with the memory of the young fox's words, brought him to a damning realization. Something was seriously awry with his friend, in a way he couldn't quite define. It had been for _months_, maybe longer.

Little changes, discrepancies; had he been ignoring them? Their interactions had been so, _explosive_ of late. As though a latent hostility had grown between them. He didn't even know how it started. They didn't spent time together, unless out of necessity. Almost every conversation ended in argument. Sometimes Sonic felt like he didn't even know the guardian anymore.

Rivaling Sonic's feeling of guilt over the situation was doubt. Knuckles was an excellent climber. He'd seen the guardian scale walls, as easily as one might ascend a ladder. Imagining that he'd slipped was like Sonic suffering a clumsy fall while running. It just didn't happen. There had to be more to it.

Perhaps most troubling of all was that despite their strained relationship, Knuckles had let him stay; he'd even behaved cordially for a bit. '_Why?'_ Even at the best of times between them, Knuckles was a loner. There were some things he'd always chosen to shoulder on his own. So why the sudden change of heart? Had Sonic's sudden realization and resulting monologue in the forest, spurred something within the guardian? Was it a plea for help? '_Unlikely,'_ he dismissed. Maybe Sonic's words appealed to the echidna's better judgment? '_Maybe.'_ his thoughts echoed.

What was it that he was missing?

Those few minutes before, where they were just joking and teasing had been so refreshing. The tension between them momentarily forgotten. He wasn't sure if Knuckles had even noticed it, but they had somehow fallen into their regular banter routine. It felt good. That was the Knuckles who was his best friend. The one he hadn't seen in _months_.

Sonic let out another long sigh, shaking his head. He'd needed answers. An uneasy feeling in his gut told him there was something else at work here. Why the guardian would just share it with him he didn't know. He had no doubt that Knuckles would fight him on this every step of the way, but he was up for the challenge. Besides, even as the best of friends they had been known to butt heads, and he knew exactly how to push Knuckles' buttons. If there was a secret to uncover he'd find it.

Resolved with his thoughts for the time being, he decided to get some sleep as well. As he stood from the sofa, he picked up the two plates off the coffee table. Walking back into the kitchen he deposited them in the sink, and then made his way to the spare room.

Just as he was about to close the door, he heard a large bang come from inside Knuckles' room. For a moment he wondered whether he should go check on his friend, but decided against it. Knuckles made it pretty clear he didn't want to deal with him right now. With that last melancholy thought, he closed the door and went to bed.

* * *

Knuckles shut the door behind himself, and let his back slide down against it to the floor. '_Stupid hedgehog.'_ he thought. '_Can't he ever keep his mouth shut?' _

He cringed, dropping his head into his hands. He was so tired, but his mind was racing now. For a while he just sat there, trying to calm his thoughts.

Sonic didn't know how much he had unsettled the guardian with their argument in the forest. Maybe he was over reacting though. Knuckles was sure Sonic meant well, but he was having a hard enough time sorting things out on his own. His thoughts were a jumbled mess. It was clear the hedgehog suspected there was more going on, but… '_Is there more?'_ Knuckles asked himself unsure.

He felt a wave of anxiety, as the weight of everything he'd been contemplating over the last few weeks washed over him. Was everything that had happened just an accident? Had he just been following a path of carelessness; or, was it careless of him to dismiss the situation as a strange coincidence. '_I don't know anymore.'_

In a surge of anger at his own confusion, he balled his hand into a fist, and slammed into the floorboards. The strike echoed throughout the room. Taking a deep breath, he looked up to the ceiling. A muffled shuffling sound and a click reached his ears from outside of his door. He supposed it must been Sonic going into the spare bedroom.

'_Sonic…' _What was it about the things the hedgehog had said earlier, that put Knuckles so on edge? He wasn't sure. Despite Sonic's conclusion, Knuckles hadn't deliberately avoided mentioning his injury, nor the incident, which led to it.

Sonic's first call had been a full week after the ravine incident. Meanwhile, Knuckles been back on his feet and doing most of his normal routine after only two days. It hadn't been easy, but he had been rather determined.

The truth was that if any decision about discussing the topic of the injury or incident were to have been made, it would have been more likely that he'd have made a deliberate decision _to_ tell Sonic, rather than to deliberately _not _tell him. The fact that he had done neither was just a testament to his innermost nature. He hadn't been trying to hide anything from Sonic at the time. It just didn't occur to him to say anything about it, because he was so used to having to depend on himself. For years, it had been that way.

'_So why do I still feel like I've done something wrong?'_ He questioned himself. And despite his desire to deny it, he already had an answer.

He wasn't lying to himself in claiming it hadn't occurred to him to mention anything to Sonic when they spoke, but after what his blue friend has said during their argument, earlier in the forest, about "taking the risk," and dealing with things on his own, Knuckles was beginning to feel doubtful about every decision he'd made over the past three weeks.

'_And I still can't remember,'_ He berated himself.

In all truth he'd been tearing himself up about it since the incident. He couldn't remember anything before the point when he'd awoken on the ledge, ten feet down the ravine. He didn't know how he ended up down there, and even worse, he didn't know what might have happened on his island while he was passed out.

On the second day, as soon as he could take a step on his ankle with out collapsing in pain, he'd scoured the island for signs of anything unusual. He'd felt vulnerable, bruised and injured as he was; yet still, just as Sonic pointed out, he hadn't contacted anyone. If something serious had happened then… But, after searching the island he found nothing out of place, so he assumed he'd just slipped up. Surely he'd bumped his head when he'd fallen, and that would have caused the memory loss. But there was one thing he couldn't justify. One piece of information he'd tried again and again to find a logical explanation for, and it nearly terrified him he still had no answer.

Five days before the ravine incident, he'd awoken on the ground near the Lava Reef Zone. He had no idea how he'd gotten there, or what he'd been doing hours before.

That was the first time he'd blacked out.

* * *

Author's Note Two:

Sorry about the delay! I know I said this chapter would come out pretty quickly, but when I went back and read what I had already written I realized the most of it needed to be rewritten. All around the chapter went from three pages to about twelve. Hope you enjoyed it!

As for then next chapter, it might take a while too. A large chunk of has yet to be written. In the mean time please review! Your feedback is very motivating!

To my fantastic beta reader Awdures thank you again! You always have such nice things to say, on top of keeping my grammar in check! You rock!

Ch 1 reviewers, Speedy1236, Spidesmi, and craZ4knux, Thank you! Hope you enjoyed this next bit!

- Sarilleny

* * *

Façade: an outward appearance that is maintained to conceal a less pleasant or creditable reality


	4. Echo

Disclaimer:

I do not own Sonic, Knuckles, or any other characters who appear in this story. They belong to Sega.

**Authors Note: **

You guys though I was never coming back, right? I don't blame you. It's been _way_ too long. I don't want to give you a bunch of excuses. I'm here with a new chapter (yay!) and I'm moving on to work on next one. Anyway, I really hope you enjoy it. It's the longest one yet! Contextually it picks up shortly after the chapter 2 so if it's been a while, you may want to reread a bit.

Ok I'll Leave it at that for now. Look for a bit more at the end. Enjoy!

**Description:**

They have know each other as enemies, rivals, and eventually companions, but over time even the best of friends can forget that which brought them together. When a strange situation arises that may threaten Angel Island and its Guardian, can Sonic convince the echidna to trust in a friendship that was once strong, or will Knuckles insist on dealing with the situation alone.

**Style:**

As things get a bit more complex with two points of view, here is a guide to clarify on what different styles denote.

" " / "quotation marks" - denote conversion

' ' / '_italics within apostrophes' -_ denote thoughts

_single_ or _small groups_ of words in _italics_ - denote emphasis

_Whole sentences or paragraphs in italics -_ denote past occurrences

Horizontal line - denotes a change in scene or significant change in point of view.

* * *

**Fractured Frequency | **Chapter 3 - Echo

* * *

The morning found Sonic climbing the steps of the majestic Master Emerald Shrine. It was cool and a bit windy as usual per the island's high altitude. At the halfway mark he stopped and closed his eyes, enjoying how the breeze brushed over his skin and through his quills. His thoughts shifted towards how to approach the inevitable situation at hand.

At the uppermost terrace, he felt the soft light and warm aura of the Master Emerald. Its pale glow was accented by a field of light cast by the Sun's first rays, which had just begun to peak over distant the horizon. A distorted red figure was also visible through the gem's many facets. A step to the right revealed Knuckles to his view.

Knuckles was seated, legs dangling over the back edge of the shrine, presumably watching the sunrise. He was undoubtedly also aware of Sonic's presence, so Sonic didn't bother to announce himself. Instead he simply took a seat along side the guardian. They watched the sun rise in silence, both enjoying the fantastically vast view, and the calming lull of the Master Emerald behind them.

The sun was well above the horizon before Knuckles finally broke the silence.

"Still here I see." He said.

Inside Sonic cringed. This was going to be just as bad as he was expecting. Possibly worse.

With a sigh he asked, "Are you so eager to have me leave?" It was struggle not to sound bitter.

"Have you found some reason to stay? To constantly annoy me perhaps?"

Sonic rolled his eyes. Whatever progress they'd made towards being civil the night before had evaporated with his ill timed comment.

"Yeah, well maybe I didn't ask to be here, either. Did you think of that?" Sonic spat back, frustration setting in.

"Oh, _finally!_ That's the first thing you've said that actually makes sense! By all means then Sonic, see yourself _out_. I have work to do." Knuckles began to stand up, before continuing. "Oh, and tell Tails, I don't care what he's working on, I don't have time to babysit you just because you're bored! "

He turned to leave, but was halted by a tug at the wrist.

_ "Sit back down."_

Knuckles looked at the hand holding him in place, and then straight into Sonic's eyes. "_Let go,_" he spoke viciously.

Sonic sighed and tried again. "Please sit down, Knux."

"Get your damn hands off me before I-."

"NO," Sonic cut in. "You can spew all the insults and threats you want Knuckles. I'm not leaving. Now sit down."

Knuckles appeared slightly taken aback at this response. He looked at Sonic inquisitively, as though he didn't believe the hedgehog's words. "Why?" he asked after a moment.

Sonic thought about this for a while. The answer seemed rather obvious to him, but he obliged the question anyway.

"I know you well enough to know when something is wrong, Knuckles." He watched his friend closely as he spoke, and saw dissatisfaction with the answer. He continued. "So you don't want to talk about it. _Fine_. We can pretend it's not there; we can even pretend everything is good between us, but you can't expect me to just leave, if we are going to play it that way."

He let go of Knuckles' wrist, and waited for his reaction.

Knuckles seemed reluctant still, to accept Sonic's request. His arm dropped back to his side, and he continued to scrutinize the Sonic with a less than friendly stare.

"Would it really cost you so much to sit down for a few minutes?" Sonic asked wearily.

"For what? So we can pretend to be chummy?"

"I had something better in mind actually."

"Well, I don't have time to waste on your stupid games."

"AND JUST WHAT, PLEASE SHARE, ON THIS DAMN DESERTED ROCK IS SO IMPORTANT!?" Sonic yelled, losing his calm. "You keep saying you have work to do. More _important_ things to do, but I don't see it. So enlighten me please! Just where are you so desperate to run off to? What are you gonna do? Set a trap? Dig a ditch? Stare at the Master Emerald all day maybe? There isn't anybody here forcing you to run around like a crazy person while your injured! I don't see any imminent threat. So, what the hell is your problem?"

"SO YOU THINK WHAT I DO IS INSIGNIFICANT!?" Knuckles roared back. "Maybe I should just drop everything and be an aimless runner like you! NO RESPONSIBILITY. NO DISCIPLINE! Just do whatever I feel like, _whenever_ I feel like it! When it's convenient for me! That sounds great! Why should I care what happens to the island or the Emerald! It's just one big stupid rock, right! _RIGHT_? THAT'S WHAT YOU THINK, ISN'T IT!?"

"WELL IT DOESNT MATTER WHAT I THINK! _Does it?_ No matter if I'm trying to help you! Is that really what it's come too? Are our differences so great that you can't even stand the sight of me? _Because I used to think it was the ways that we were DIFFERENT that made us a GOOD TEAM!"_

"_Yeah_," Knuckles scoffed viciously. "I used to think that too... Things change."

Sonic was taken aback by Knuckles' words. They were so bitter and full of resentment. He could see in Knuckles' eyes that there was something else behind that thought. Something intense. The _thing_ that had torn them apart. And Sonic realized in that moment, that he didn't at all comprehend the magnitude of _what_ that thing was.

On the surface Sonic's words had ignited his rage; the short fuse that exploded in anger, and resentment. As it burned away though, it unearthed something else. Something that Knuckles had hidden away beneath the rage, because he didn't want to remember; a dark a emptiness within. But the furious flame would fizzle out, he knew, and he was already standing so close to the edge of a pit of despair.

Knuckles turned away from Sonic, and retreated to the opposite side of the Master Emerald while trying to steady his breath. _'Keep it together,' _he hissed mentally. The last thing he needed was to confirm Sonic's suspicions. He raised a hand to his left temple, trying to massage away a headache that had increased tenfold since the hedgehog's arrival. It was making it difficult to concentrate. When Knuckles began to feel slightly faint, he gave in to the urge to sit, settling on the top step of the shrine. He'd actually intended to storm away, but this would have to do. He really felt awful, and didn't quite trust himself to walk down the stairs. _'What is wrong with me?,_' he found himself asking, though the answer was not entirely unclear. He'd hardly slept again. Somewhere in the wee hours of morning he'd come here to the shrine trying to clear his head. It hadn't been working even before Sonic's arrival. It wasn't just lack of sleep though. Physically he was exhausted as well. He'd been pushing himself, eager to keep up his regular routine despite the sprained ankle and the strain of working around it was wearing on him.

Knuckles dropped his head into one hand, weary with frustration.

Sonic wasn't even the issue. Not entirely, anyway. Knuckles did realize that he was being unnecessarily harsh towards the hedgehog; however, knowledge of that fault didn't mean he was ready to be friendly either. Sonic was just another layer of complication that he could do without in his life at the moment.

Sonic had always had a knack for putting Knuckles on edge. It wasn't even intentional much of the time, just a trait of their polar personalities. Knuckles sighed at that, and thought back to what Sonic had just said, _'the ways that we were different._' Just as quickly, though, he closed off that train of thought. There was too much there. Too many things that he didn't feel like he could deal with at the moment. Not on top of everything else. And not when Sonic_ didn't even't remember._

No, that pain was better left tucked way.

"Knuckles…?" Sonic asked in a cautionary tone, disrupting the silence that had fallen between them.

The urge to leave surfaced again, but he pushed it away. He didn't respond, either, waiting instead for Sonic to continue.

"Look, that's not…" Sonic trailed off. It was a moment before he began again. "I didn't meant to say that. Or… well… It didn't come out the way I meant it. I don't think that what you do, or that this place is insignificant. I wasn't trying to say that at all."

Knuckles found a small amount of amusement in listening to Sonic stumble through his thoughts; he sounded genuinely apologetic. Knuckles supposed he should return the sentiment, but was comfortably beyond caring at the moment.

He listened as Sonic went on. "I just want us to be friends again. I'm tired of the fighting. Aren't you? I miss all the fun we use to have, and I think you do, too."

That set off another red flag in Knuckles' mind. Hadn't he just said he didn't want to go there. _Or thought it._ Or whatever! His comfortable indifference was quickly slipping away. He could feel Sonic's eyes on his back as he continued to speak.

"Anyway, I just thought… well, you seem... stressed, and I thought maybe we could do something fun like we used to. A chance to get your mind off things. And if you have other things you need get done, that's fine. Just let me help. We'll get it done together."

"And what if I just want you to leave me alone," Knuckles snapped, no longer able to bear the sentiment. He turned with a scowl.

Sonic met his gaze, a regretful expression on his face. It was some time before he replied, though his eyes never left Knuckles. "I can't do that... at least… not in the way you want me to."

Across the shrine, Sonic hung his head. That last comment stung a bit. Maybe he should have expected it, but it still bothered him.

The morning had been a complete failure up to this point. He was only making things worse. _'Well,' _he sighed, _'might as well go down swinging at this point.'_

"Come on, Knux. Throw me a bone here. I'm practically groveling!"

He waited. No response.

"Ok," he continued, "let me do you one better. I'll leave you alone. Just tell me what you needed to get done today, and I'll take care of it. That's fair, right? More than fair really. You can't possibly say no to that."

He paused. Silence again. When he glanced over his shoulder, he was surprised to see Knuckles standing.

"So what? Are you ignore..."

Sonic was cut off abruptly when Knuckles unexpectedly held up a hand and shushed him.

"Knuckles, wha-"

"Sonic, shut up!" Knuckles whispered back harshly.

Sonic watched as the guardians eyes slid shut. For a few seconds everything was still. When he opened his eyes again, his expression changed to a frown. He turned in place then, and stretched out one hand to the Master Emerald, eyes closing yet again.

Sonic stood then as well, careful not to distract Knuckles. He knew that stance. Knuckles was using the Emerald to search for another presence on the island. He waited patiently at Knuckles side, thoughts jumping to various conclusions, and preparing himself until the guardian opened his eyes again many moments later. When Knuckles turned to meet Sonic's gaze, the frown was still in place, but he looked confused too.

"What's up, Knux?"

Knuckles hesitated before replying, "I don't know. It's nothing."

"Hey, don't give me that," Sonic warned offensively. He'd had enough of that game.

"No," Knuckles insisted. "I mean it. I… I thought I felt something… A presence. Just for a second, but… it's nothing. There's nothing there."

"Are you sure?" Sonic asked as he observed his friend.

"Yes, I'm sure." Knuckles snapped back.

The response seemed genuine enough. Knuckles seemed startled more than anything. Sonic couldn't help but wonder, though.

"Knuckles, has this happens before? Recently I mean?"

"No. Why?" Knuckles said, raising a hand to his temples again.

"So… you're not expecting anyone, or any danger… or something else?"

Knuckles looked up, understanding Sonic's full meaning.

"No, Sonic. No. It was just a mistake, ok. I'm just… I don't know… I'm just tired. OK."

"Ok," Sonic conceded, hands coming up in defense. Still, something felt off. Sonic had never known the guardian's intuitive senses him to be wrong before.

He continued to watch Knuckles, as he seemed momentarily lost in his thoughts. He'd raised a hand to the Master Emerald again, though not in the deliberate way as before. It seemed almost absent minded this time. Knuckles did look quite tired, and Sonic supposed it wasn't beyond him to make the occasional mistake.

Focusing back on his own thoughts, Sonic stifled a sigh. His plan of talking things out with Knuckles wasn't yielding any progress. In fact it had probably set them back a few steps considering Knuckles' overall attitude towards him throughout it. Maybe what they need was a course of action, quite literally, rather than another exchange of words. With that thought an idea began to blossom in this head. He opened his mouth to share, but caught himself and paused when he looked up and took in his friend's appearance. Knuckles still wore an uneasy expression. Dark circles under his eyes exaggerated the look to one of exhaustion. He noticed the faded bruises too, and realized that he was getting ahead of himself, even if just slightly. There was no need to rush.

It was quite apparent to Sonic that whatever was bothering Knuckles was enough of a distraction to throw him off point. Although Knuckles probably couldn't bring himself to admit it, a friend was exactly what he needed at the moment, if only it to remind him of the simple things. So Sonic filed way the new plan for more immediate needs. He could save the fun for later.

He closed the distance between them, lightly touching Knuckles on the shoulder to get his attention. "Hey," he said gently, "have you eaten anything today?"

Knuckles, startled out of this thoughts, pondered about this for a moment before nodding left to right.

"Yeah, thought so. Come on. I think I can hear that cake calling for us." He took the guardians hand, and began leading him towards the steps.

A smile came to Sonic's face, when Knuckles wordlessly followed him down. _'Finally,'_ he thought to himself, _'no resistance.'_

Breakfast somehow managed to turn into a rather pleasant affair, consisting of birthday cake, an impressive array of island nuts and fruits, and other preserves that even Sonic had become fond of over the years. The pair managed to avoid further argument, most likely due their ravenous appetites. Sonic spent the entire time recounting various mainland events of the past few months, in attempt to drown out the awkward silence that otherwise fill the room. Although Knuckles seemed only to listen with partial attention, Sonic was glad to see the look of unease had subsided.

"Anyway, it took him about two week to get it up and running again. It's pretty cool, though. The, um… turbo, um… Z45… 54… or whatever-he-calls-them boosters are _crazy_ fast! Mind you," Sonic paused, holding up a hand, "not faster than me, but I gotta give the kid props. I was impressed."

"And then in December we had this massive snow storm. Like, we were actually snowed in for a whole day! Your pretty lucky the island only gets that cold every few years. I wish I could pick an choose my seasons. Afterwards, when it melted a bit, we had a pretty good time though. Sledding and snowmen, and such."

Sonic looked up gauging his companion across the table.

"And then right after that Amy and I started dating. It's great. Movies and shopping and stuff. It's been, like, _lots_ of months now._ We're totally in love._ She got me this great sweater for Christmas. It's really great, and…"

"Wait. What?" Knuckles interrupted, looking baffled.

"Ha! Just messin' with ya." Sonic smirk and replied. "Didn't think you were listening… "

"I… Sorry. It's just this headache. It's… distracting. What were you going on about before?" Knuckles asked.

_ "Well,"_ Sonic began again exaggeratedly. "Now that I have your full attention, I was thinking… I have an idea."

"An idea?" Knuckles repeated exasperatedly. "K... Are you going to share it?"

"Yes, jeez, excuse a guy for trying a little build up." Sonic whined back. "Anyway, you ready?"

"Yes, Sonic. Just spit it out!"

Sensing he finally had Knuckles' interest as well, Sonic obliged him. "Let's have a race!" he said excitedly."

"A race?" Knuckles repeated. It clearly wasn't what he'd expected. "Seriously? That's what you're bugging me for now?"

"Oh, come on. Don't act like you don't want to. I saw that look. So what do ya say? You in?

Knuckles brooded for a while, before answering. "It wouldn't be a fair fight."

Not the answer Sonic had been expecting. Refusal he'd been ready for. He felt a pang of guilt. He'd forgotten momentarily about Knuckles' injury. Fortunately, his cause wasn't completely derailed by the misstep. Knuckles had actually misinterpreted his meaning.

"True. A race on foot would probably be unfair for a couple of reasons, though I'll remind you, you do have home field advantage. Actually though, I was suggesting an air-board race."

To that he received a raised eyebrow in reply. Sonic was thankful it wasn't an instant refusal. Instead Knuckles seemed to to give it some though. This however made it even more annoying when Knuckles replied with an uninterested, "_No,"_ again.

"Why! Come on, Knux! I know you just considered it! How long has i been since you've pulled out your board? I know you want to, so why in chaos not!"

_ "Because," _Knuckles said rolling his eyes, "not only would you lose, it will end with me have to pull you out of another security blockade or something, and that just means more work for me."

"Well aren't we confidant." Sonic mocked back. It was his turn to be annoyed now.

The incident Knuckles was referring to, was one of Sonic's more embarrassing memories. It happened almost four years ago, but Knuckles liked to poke fun at him for it. He had gone out for a run one morning on the island, and accidentally got caught in a rope trap. It took almost an hour before Knuckles came looking for him. The most embarrassing part of the whole thing was that the trap had left him hanging right above one of the island's deep mountain feed streams. He'd been so petrified by the pool, that he didn't even try to free himself. He just hanging there waiting, and praying his foot wouldn't come loose.

Sonic made an effort to push the memory away. His wasn't ready to give in yet.

"I think that's a pretty lame excuse for someone who is so sure they are going to win."

"Whatever Sonic. I have other things to do anyway."

"Show me the new security layout." When Knuckles simply gave him a skeptical look, he continued to push.

"I'm serious. Show me the map. If I still screw up after that, it'll free you of any responsibility. Unless you think sharing the grid it will hurt your advantage..." Sonic smirked. He knew he had him with that one.

"Uhh, _fine!_ You're on," came a grumbled reply. Knuckles let out a heavily exasperated sigh as he began to stand up, and Sonic was sure he heard a mumbled, _"annoying hedgehog_" under tis breath too.

"Hey, where are you headed now?" Sonic Asked.

"To get the damn maps! Are you coning or not?"

"Oh right." Sonic replied, as he sprung to his feet.

With Knuckles' back to him, Sonic smiled a triumphantly. Finally some real progress.

Knuckles set about rummaging through the living room, looking for the maps. After checking a cabinet on the south wall, he walked around the sofa to a bookcase nestled in the far corner and quickly began to scan down through the shelves.

"Why don't you make yourself useful and help." Knuckles disappeared back into his bedroom for a brief spell then.

"Sure. Ok." Sonic replied. Looking about the next set of living room book shelves. "What do they look like?" he called out.

"You know the ones. Big scrolls. Really old, remember?" Knuckles called back.

"Hmm, yeah sorta." He feigned searching a bit, then called out to Knuckles again. "Soooo, we're not just stalling to get out of doing this right?"

There was a slight pause, then an exasperated, "What? _No, Sonic._" Shortly thereafter, he reappeared walking towards the back storage room when he suddenly slapped a hand to his forehead.

"Damn it. I forgot, Mighty still has them," he said more to himself that to Sonic.

This caught Sonic's attention. "Mighty? Why does Mighty have them?" he asked, turning to face Knuckles."And_ why_ do we need them again? In case you forgot, I know my way around the island." After a moment he added, "We're totally just stalling, aren't we?"

"Oh, shut up, Sonic. We're not stalling." Knuckles snapped back. "You don't know the new security grid. Mighty and I were working on a whole series of layouts for different scenarios and what not. Some of them are already up, but we were still working on others when they left, and I forgot to ask him to leave the maps here," Knuckles explained. "Anyway, I'll have to get another set form the library."

_ "Ooor,"_ Sonic started in a sing-songy voice, "you could just tell me what to watch out for, instead of..." He paused then, reevaluating what Knuckles had just said.

Knuckles looked up impatiently. "Instead of what?"

"At the, _where_, did you just say?"

Knuckles looked up confused. "What?"

"Where did say you to say you need to go?_ The library?_ Knuckles, I highly doubt any library in Mobius will have a map of Angel Island," said the hedgehog matter-of-factly. "Well," He added as an afterthought. "Maybe, Robotropolice, but even that is a stretch these days."

"Yeah, I would hope not, Sonic." Knuckles deadpanned. "I meant _my_ library, _here_."

Sonic was thrown by that statement. "Uhh, your library? Since when do you have a library?"

"Since always. You've just never been there."

Sonic frowned and cocked his head to the side. "Ok. Soo..." He trailed off hoping for more of an explanation.

Knuckles in turn didn't offer one, waiting instead for Sonic to elaborate his apparent concern. After a lengthy pause however, he rolled his eyes and left Sonic standing there, disappearing into his bedroom, and disregarding the unfinished conversation. When he was just inside the door he paused and called over his shoulder. "You just gonna stand around there? Your spare board is in the guest closet. Let's go."

Sonic couldn't help but smirk again. No doubt this was building up be an interesting day.

Around the time that the sun reached its peak in the sky, and morning shadows disappeared, Sonic and Knuckles were nearing the end of the path that led to Marble Garden Ruins.

They strolled along at a leisurely pace, each with an air-board in hand, enjoying the pleasant weather that graced the island even in late January. Neither of them had forgotten the unpleasantries of that morning, but by some tacit agreement, they'd set it aside for the time being, respectively with their own reasons.

In keeping with the unspoken truce, they attempted to fill the spaces with lighter conversation.

"So," Sonic began. "Remind me again why we absolutely need to these maps." Sonic asked.

"I told you, Sonic! You don't know the current security layout."

"_So._ It's not like I'm gonna hit anything in the air! This is a waste of time. Let's just great this race started!"

"Actually, you might with the new grid. So _no_." Knuckles replied, exasperated with Sonic's impatience. "Besides, I didn't think you'd be so keen on testing that theory again. Remember last time?"

"Oh, give it a rest! That happened on time!" Sonic complained.

He decided it might be better just to change the subject.

"Sooo, what is this library of yours like?"

"It's full of books." Knuckles provided curtly.

"You don't say? How enlightening." Sonic replied, unamused. "Why is it so secretive," he asked, throwing air quotes around the last word.

"It's not a secret." Knuckles answered simply.

"But you never told me about it."

"It never came up."

"And how is that not a secret?"

"It just isn't, ok!"

Sonic muddled over this for a bit before asking in a defensive tone, "So, do the Chaotix know about it then?"

Knuckles sighed inwardly, like he'd hoped that question wouldn't come up. "Does it really matter?"

"Maybe." Sonic replied, sounding pouty.

"Fine. Yes. Sort of… They know there is a place I sometimes to visit down here. Mighty knows it's a Library."

"So, they've never been there?"

"No, they haven't. Satisfied now?"

"I guess," Sonic answered sounding anything but.

They continued along quietly for a while then as they reached the first stray pillars of the Marble Gardens ruins. Sonic was always struck by the faded grander of the place, with its steep hills and massive structures. It gave one that sense that in their time, the Echidnas had been a race to be reckoned with.

Another five minutes along the path brought them to a familiar rock face. At first glance it looked like nothing more than an exposed bit of earth worn down over time. There were mossy boulders and debris strewn about its foundation, unruly vines hanging from above, and a few more stray stone pillars. Nothing particularly interesting to the untrained eye, however, closer inspection revealed a carefully disguised opening between the rock-face and boulder.

Sonic had been there many times before, and was rather surprised to find himself there again now. He had been expecting to be brought to some place entirely new. The tunnel was part of a vast network that stretched across the island, connecting the different zones. While he paused to ponder this, Knuckles had already passed the entry way, so he hurried along to catch up.

Past the collapsed crevice that lead inside, the narrow tunnel took on an entirely different feel. It was dark, cool, and their footsteps echoed. Just inside Sonic leaned his board against the wall next to Knuckles' and continued on in. A short distance along he found Knuckles knelt at a rusty hinged chest in a small cove. From it he pulled a torch and a bit of flint. It only took him a moment to set it alight and then they continued on.

Wracking his memories, Sonic couldn't recall anything that would indicate a library with in the cavernous expanse. While he knew he hadn't explored the full length of the winding tunnel network, he's seen enough. Probably more than anyone else living today, save Knuckles himself. His patience ran out, and he broached the subject again.

"Can't believe you never told me about this place!" He said, voice echoing throughout the tunnel.

"Sonic, you've been in the tunnels plenty of times." Knuckles said, sounding rather annoyed. "We've even come through this entrance before."

"Yeah, that's the point! I _have_ been here before, but I didn't know you had a super secret library hidden down here! Are you seriously going to tell me, the in all the time we've known each other, you just _forgot_ to mention it? Not cool, man."

When Knuckles paused, and suddenly turned, Sonic nearly plowed into him.

"Sonic, I _wasn't_ hiding it from you! I just... didn't really think you'd be all that interested." With a sigh he added, "And, it's sort of... private, I guess."

"Really, Knux?" Sonic chided sarcastically, "You _own_ an island. Do you really need a secret hideout, too?"

Knuckles didn't reply, rather turned away with a hint of dejection, and continued along the path without comment.

It was at that late moment that Sonic realized that his humor might have been in bad taste just then. He skittered ahead a few steps to catch up.

"Hey, you know I'm just teasing, right?" he offered, "it's... surprising. That's all. I mean, I used to stay here for weeks at a time, remember? I guess I kinda thought I'd seen all the significant things there are to see."

"_You have,_" Knuckles insisted, frustration still evident in his voice. Though after a moment's thought added, "well, most of them, anyway."

Sonic was curious what Knuckles meant by that statement, but decided it was better to drop the matter. He followed silently as Knuckles led them deeper into the caves.

As they continued through the dimly lit passage, the conversation fell silent once again. They walked on for a while, passing through several familiar junctions which led to Lava Reef Zone and Hydro City. Another path further along led to a massive cavern at the center of the island known as Hidden Place Zone; a chamber that housed the Master Emerald on occasion.

After some time they entered a spacious chamber where the path seemed to split off in several directions. Knuckles led them to a passage on the left that appeared to be sealed by massive door. It was difficult to see in the faded light, but Sonic could make out some faded markings carved into it. Knuckles walked up to it, and placed a hand over the ancient scratchings much like he'd done with the Emerald at the shine earlier that morning. The markings came alive in a greenish glow under his touch and then with the waning grunt the door rolled to the side revealing a deep passage.

Knuckles stepped inside and motioned for Sonic to follow. As they entered Sonic noticed a steep incline, and sensed that they were descending quite far into the islands depths. He also noticed how well preserved this particular expanse of tunnel was. Many of the tunnels he had traversed in the past were semi-collapsed, strewn with broken pillars and faded murals. This passage was different. Its ceiling rose high as they moved onwards causing the light from the single torch to dispersed dimly. This made it difficult to see the detail, but even so, Sonic could see the intricate designs that cascaded along the upper edges of the walls. Painted with purples and blues mostly, the geometric patterns wove in and out, accented occasionally by a crescent shape that looked suspiciously familiar.

"Knuckles, did this place… it had something to do with the Guardians, didn't it?"

"Hmm, not explicitly. I think the crest is more of a symbol of protection here. That's what you're referring to, right?" He asked, glancing upwards.

"Yeah. I thought you said it was the symbol of the Guardians."

"It is. Though I'm not sure which came first really, the guardians born marked with that symbol or the symbols itself. It's ancient, and sacred. Even the legends are unclear about it."

The hall began to level out as they neared a bend. Ahead Sonic could see light streaming out of a doorway on the left. When they approached the door he saw that the path to the right continued on, though where to he could not tell. It was shrouded in darkness. Sonic followed Knuckles into the lit room, expecting to be awed by its grandeur. Instead he found himself in cramped little space; its perimeter was lined with bookshelves full of withered looking manuscripts. There was a desk at the right wall cluttered with texts as well. Many of them lay open, while others had little markers sandwiched between the pages. In the center of the desk lay what appeared to be a journal. It looked fairly new, and he could see that a pen rested in its seam, next to a page only half complete.

"Are you going to come in?"

It was only then that Sonic realized he was still standing in the doorway.

"Uh, yeah. Sorry, I just… It's not what I expected."

"No?" Knuckles asked, absentmindedly, as he searched around for something amongst the stacks strewn about the desk.

"It's kinda small." Sonic replied.

"Well these are just _my_ books." Knuckles said as he snatched up what Sonic thought might be a key, and walked over to a cabinet in the corner. "The actual library is further below. It's much larger."

"Oh." Sonic said, not sure what to make of the statement. "Um, can I look around?"

There was a slight hesitation in Knuckles' step before he turned. "Yeah, just be careful, ok? Some of these books are fragile."

"Of course." Sonic agreed.

Knuckles turned back then and began to rummage through the cabinet. After a bit of searching he emerged with one large roll of paper. "Damn. I just have a terrain map here. I need to grab a full set from below to take back to the house. I'll be right back, Ok?"

"Yeah, sure," Sonic assured, "I'll just wait here."

After Knuckles hurried away, Sonic made his way to the far wall, examining a shelf that caught his interest. In it lay a row of books with golden cloth bound spines. A set most likely, with identical title markings, and runes that he assumed referred to the individual volumes. The next shelf down was full of old dusty scrolls. They were undoubtedly ancient, and Sonic felt wary of even breathing near them, let alone touching, afraid they might crumble. Instead he wandered further along the wall, scanning up and down the shelves. When the words, 'ATLAS: Mobius' randomly caught his eye, he was surprised to have found something he could comprehend in the collection of old texts. Examining further, the shelf held a dozen or so titles he could read. 'ATLAS: Mobius,' 'Mobius: A Concise History' 'All about Chao,' 'The Legend and Mystery of Babylon,' and the list went on. He pulled 'Mysteries of Mobius' off the shelf, noticing it had some bookmarked pages like the stacks that lay on the desk. He flipped to one of the tabs and found it pointed to an underlined passage.

_ "What remains of the Echidna race, is only found in the ruins of other civilizations past. Few concrete records exist, but there are mentions of dealings with other cultures. In particularly, these documents often allude to the fabled treasures the Echidnas were believed to hold_."

A bit further down the page, Sonic noticed a scribbled in note. He scanned down to investigate.

_"…over 200 years since the their last sighting. This has raised many questions about their mysterious disappearance. __Records indicate they may have lived on a tropical island far our in the southern sea.__ Many have searched for such a location, with little success. It is believed that..."_

Next to the crossed out line, Knuckles had penciled in_, "Not bad for a bunch of idiots."_

Sonic couldn't help but chuckle. He'd love to see the face of the author if ever he caught a sight of Knuckles. He closed up the book, replaced it on the shelf and continued down the wall. Curiosity got the better of him then and he turned towards the desk across the room. What other snarky comments was Knuckles leaving in random history books?

He crossed over to the table, and took in the disarray. Books and papers were scattered everywhere. He reach for the journal at center, but paused, wondering if maybe he should let it be. It could be something private; it could be something that Knuckles wouldn't want him to see; but then, wasn't that exactly what he was looking for? Carefully he shifted away some loose pages that lay atop one corner, and picked it up. Right away he recognized the Knuckles' handwriting; it looked just like the bit he'd seen in the book of mysteries. The page was only filled half way, and every fifth line or so, had a number;

30,455;

30,460;

30,465,

and so on in the margins. Flipping back a few pages he saw this was true for the entire journal.

As he flipped forwards again the book tipped a little, and the pen that had been acting as a place-marker toppled out onto the table. When he reached to pick it up, he noticed a much larger and much older manuscript, sitting open in the place where he had taken the journal. The clutter had obscured it from view before. It was written in Echidnan script, and had an colorful drawing of what looked like Mushroom Hill Zone on one page. Intrigued, he set away the journal, and moved the papers and other books around the manuscript. When the space looked clear enough, he carefully closed the manuscript to get a look at the cover. It too was illustrated with an incredible image of angel island. It was so accurately detailed, exactly like the view he knew from flying the the island on the Turbo. '_But how did they,' _he began to wonder, before he nearly slapped a hand to his forehead. These were Echidnas! Of course the knew what the island looked like from the sky!

He opened the manuscript again to a different page, and began to thumb through it. It really was a beautiful book. The script appeared to be cursive, with various letters and symbols interlocking. There was an illustration on the left page of each spread, and sometimes even full page pictures. Sonic flipped through the pages carefully, until he came to a place where the book's spine was worn more than the rest, as though it had been repeatedly opened to that section. It was another full page image, with a small bit of text at the bottom right corner.

The scene was quite elaborate. It depicted a vast bit of the island's landscape, with the mountains cutting through the center of the page. In the foreground of the right page, tiny ranks of Echidnas were drawn in formation. They appeared to be marching towards the edge of the island. The most intriguing part was the foreground of the left page, which depicted the Master Emerald glowing atop the shrine, and a Guardian kneeling before it, with one had stretched out, touching its surface. Sonic was overcome with a strange sense of déjà vu at seeing this, because the guardian figure held a striking resemblance to Knuckles. On his chest he bore the same crescent symbol, and his fur was drawn in same bright red color, but there were some clear differences as well. The guardian in the picture had a bulkier build and looked taller. He wore no shoes, and had a strange paint markings on his face. Even more peculiar was that half of his body was not drawn in, giving an effect as though he was fading away.

An exaggerate sigh at the doorway caught Sonic's attention and he looked up.

"You see, Sonic, this is why I can't take you anywhere. I told you _not_ to touch anything."

To Sonic's surprise, Knuckles didn't actually sound angry, rather mildly exasperated.

"Actually, Red, you only said to be careful," Sonic countered.

"No, I said… " He trailed off as he entered the room. He was holding a bundle of scrolls, which he set down and leant against the wall. "Well… _maybe_ I said that, but it wasn't an open invitation to mess with the things on on my desk. Those stacks were organized! I'm going to have to go through and re-check everything now! _And_ you lost the page I was working on. Great." Knuckles reached for the manuscript, but Sonic stopped him.

"Wait!" he said. "I'm sorry, I didn't know. It just looked interesting. What is this, anyway? he asked, pointing to the manuscript. "What exactly are you doing here?"

For the second time that day, Knuckles paused and observed him strangely, as though Sonic continuously contradicted his expectations. "It's a book of Echidnan legends. You know, like for kids. It…" He sounded slightly embarrassed as he continued, "it was my favorite book when I was younger."

"What's it about? Why is the guardian only half drawn in, and what's with the massive army?"

Knuckles glanced at what Sonic was referring to. "It's the story of Knoton," He answered. "He was one of the earliest Guardians. He made..."

"_Wait. _Knoton?" Sonic interrupted. "Is that an Echidnan thing? Do all names Echidnan names start with K... er, N sounds? _Man_, that would be exhausting to remember! _Knuckles, Knoton... Nestor,_

_Kneeca..."_

Knuckles replied with an utterly exasperated roll of the eyes. "_Are you done? _Where do you come up with this stuff? _No_, they did not all have names starting with the same letter. Remember Tikal?"

"Oh, yeah. I did forget about her," Sonic remarked thoughtfully.

_ "_And those don't all start with _K_ for your information. Now do you want to hear the story or not?"

Sonic grumbled something under breath that sounded a bit like, "_I know how to spell, smartass," _but outwardly he replied with a placating, "yeah, go ahead."

When Knuckles was satisfied with Sonic's attention level he went on. "Knoton is... _was_ _legendary_. His sacrifice was known to all of my people."

"Back then Angel Island wasn't a floating isle nor was its location a secret. The Echidnas were a powerful tribe well known throughout the Mobius. Their command of the Emerald's powers, and the Council of Guardians who wielded it were viewed as a force to be respected. Despite this, it also made them a target. They were betrayed by a group of allies who joined together to invade and claim the island for their own.

When the conflict came to a head, the Echidnas faced terrible odds. Their forces were severely out numbered, even with the guardian council leading the force. They prepared for the worst.

So faced with the unthinkable, Knoton did something that was equally _unimaginable_. He used the Master Emerald to shield the island against the oncoming attack. He sent it away to a location where it would not face that danger again. In doing so, he spared the remaining armies, and saved the citizens."

"So he raised the island for the first time then?" Sonic asked, cutting in again.

"Presumably. Where are other legends. Too many to be sure."

Sonic's eyes swept across the page, observing with a new understanding. His gaze drifted back to the Guardian Knoton at center spread. "What was the sacrifice?" He asked thoughtfully. "I mean, I always kinda thought that the Master Emerald naturally made the island float."

"Uh... well," Knuckles began thinking it over. "I guess I sort of gave you the short version. Despite the impressive looking armies drawn here, they were terribly outnumbered, as I explained. I don't think they expected to make it through; although, they were willing to die trying. Knoton was supposed to stand amongst the Council of Guardians as they lead the charge, but something stopped him. Some believe his connection to the Emerald was different; it was stronger somehow than the other Guardians. The legend says that he heard the Emerald calling out to him just as the battle was about to dawn so he went to the shrine instead. What happened there between them is uncertain. Some of the Guardian scrolls even consider it a forbidden act, but as this version writes it, they believe he connected with the heart of the Emerald, and literally became one with its power. His body faded away then, and he was never seen again. At least... that's how it's written."

"Wow. Do you believe that?" Sonic asked still studying the drawing. When Knuckles didn't respond right away he looked up to find Knuckles appearing slightly abashed.

"I'm sorry." Sonic conceded quickly raising his hands in surrender. "That was very prying. My bad. You don't have to..."

"I do." Knuckles said quietly, as he thoughtfully examined the intricate spread as well.

Silence hung between them then for a while.

Feeling the need to change the subject Sonic searched around the room for anything else to comment about. His eyes fell upon the journal from before that lay open on the table. The handwriting was hard to make out at this distance, but he was able to read a few of the lines. The name 'Knoton,' in particular stood out to him now, and with it realization dawned.

"Oh. You're... are you translating this?"

Knuckles, who had taken to straightening some of the stray papers on his desk looked up. "Hmm? Oh. Yes."

"Oh, wow. I didn't know that you... That must be really difficult. Have you ever shown any of these to Tails? You know he loves historic stuff like..." He paused when Knuckles gave him the, _'you need to stop talking' _look.

"What?"

"I appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone." He said, seeming ill at ease.

"But... these are incredible. How many have you translated? In fact... Wait, scratch that." Sonic said, cutting himself off. "How _did _you translate them? Nobody speaks Echidnan anymore."

Knuckles replied with a cynical raise of an eyebrow.

"I mean _YES, _I know _you_ do, Knuckles. Don't give me that look. I meant how did _you_ learn it?"

Knuckles' expression changed from cynical to puzzled then. "I've always known Echidnan." he replied like it was the simplest thing one could imagine.

Sonic stepped over the obvious discrepancy in that answer, and tried asking the question another way."So, Mobian was your second language then?"

Knuckles' brow crinkled in confusion. "No... I... I'm not really sure what you mean," he said, uncertain.

"How did you learn Mobian growing up here all alone?" Sonic asked more directly.

"Sonic, I've always been able to speak Mobian, and Echidnan, and High Babylonian." Knuckles replied. "My people just spoke many languages. I've always known them just like you've always known Mobian. I don't understand why that's difficult to comprehend."

"High Babaloni... _Are you kidding me right now_?" Sonic asked, with incredulity. "I don't even know how to begin to address that. So, basically... you..." Sonic had to pause momentarily then to wrap his head around the implication of that statement, and to decide whether Knuckles was just messing with him. "So you're saying you never had to learn how to read?"

"Uh... no?" Knuckles said, sounding uncertain. "Is that not normal?"

"Err, _no_. It's not, Knuckles. Most people learn things like that from their parents or school."

"Oh," was all Knuckles could offer in reply.

They both knew he hadn't known his parents. It was likely he didn't truly have an answer to that question.

Sonic sighed apologetically. "I'm sorry. I keep doing that. I didn't mean to pry. It's just that I'm surprised. I guess I _did_ know you could speak and read Echidnan at least, but I never really considered _how_ before. Wouldn't have pegged you for a writer, either..."

"I don't really... I mean my stuff... It's not much, Sonic. Mostly just translating really old stuff."

"Well it's more than I do." Sonic offered with a smile.

Knuckles went back to straitening things around his desk. He closed the delicate book and set it aside, then turned around back to face Sonic. "I didn't know you ever went to school. I thought you said Eggman shut everything down back then when he first took over."

"Yeah. I went for a couple years before everything went to shit." Sonic said more bitterly than he'd intended. "Gramps taught us after that," he finished awkwardly.

It was a rough subject for both of them, _childhood_.

"I see." Knuckles replied. "I guess I'm sorry I ask then too."

"Nah, it's fine." Sonic assured him. "I probably deserved that."

"Alright," Knuckles said turning back, "Now let's get this over with." He grabbed the map scrolls and started laying them out.

"Yes please! I haven't even been out for a run today. I'm ready for some speed."

It took a good twenty minutes for Knuckles to cover the general security grid, and all the points he wanted Sonic to avoid or be aware of. Following that they took to laying out a route together.

It was decided that they would start from the tunnel entrance at the ruins above. They would charge for Lava Reef zone, making a pass over the magma fields before diving down into the caverns. From there they would follow the tunnels to the far end of Mushroom Hill which brushed the island's edge. Cutting back towards the islands center, they would race through the mushroom forest until they reached Hydro City on the lower tier of Angle Island's central terrace, before a final push up the mountain side, ending at the Red Mountain lookout station.

The trek back up the tunnels passed more quickly than the journey down in Sonic's opinion. At the top of the steep passage that had taken them down to the library, Knuckles paused and let Sonic pass. He then proceeded to reseal the the massive entry way behind them once more.

A few minutes further along the path brought Sonic to the realization that he never would have found this place on his own. Nobody would. That thought prompted Sonic to broach one last perplexing issue.

"Knux, why'd you bring me down here?"

Knuckles turned on him with a look that clearly asked, _'Are you dense?' _"Obviously, we came for the maps, or did your speedy brain bypass that point."

"Yeah, the maps, I know but... well, you say this place isn't a secret, but… "

"_Yeah_, I told you Mighty knows about it." Knuckles raised an hand to his face and let is slide down, showing his agitation. "Ugh, seriously, Sonic. Why does it even matter?"

"But he's never been down here, right? And nobody else knows. Really, how does that not constitute a secret?"

Knuckles looked ready to pummel Sonic at that point, but Sonic raised his hands in surrender to halt him. "Hold on. Look, I'm just saying… _thank you._ Ok? That's all. Thanks for showing me. I mean, you could have made me wait outside, and you didn't, so thank you."

Knuckles looked surprised at that, but recovered quickly. "Psh," he scoffed. "As if you would _actually_ wait outside." There was a smirk behind the comment. "Come on now. Let's keep moving."

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Author's Note Two:

Well there you have it. Chapter 3.

I have to give a huge shout out & thank you to my two dear friends, Levi and Rachiel. Levi for always inspiring me to to write, and write better and more. And Rachiel for literally sending hours beta reading, proofing, and discussing this chapters with me. Thank you so much! 3

Few more things about the chapter. I know a lot of it is still mysterious with many unanswered questions. That'll take a turn around Ch 5. Just hang in there. If you you have questions or comments please leave a review! I love getting feed back, and clearly it's been a while so it would be greatly appreciated! Not gonna lie. The next chapter is gonna take a while. I do have a nice chunk written, but there is a lot more to add. Please bear with me!

Thanks so much for reading! Hope you enjoyed it!

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03 Echo : to be reminiscent of : REPEAT, IMITATE


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